Tag Archives: National Children’s Bureau

Social Policy and Practice is the only UK-produced social science database focused on public health, social care, social services and public policy. It is exclusively available via Ovid – the internationally-recognised leader in medical information services – and this November they are offering librarians and researchers the chance to test drive it for free!

UK-focused evidence and research

Social Policy and Practice is produced by a consortium of key organisations within the UK. Currently these are:

Centre for Policy on Ageing

Idox Information Service

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

Social Care Institute for Excellence

A valued resource

Social Policy and Practice has been identified by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a key resource for those involved in research into health and social care. And importantly, it supports the ability to take a holistic approach to improving outcomes, by covering social issues such as poor housing, regeneration, active ageing, resilience and capacity building.

Social Policy and Practice covers all aspects of public health and social care. It is a must-have resource for anyone interested in the following topic areas:

Social work and social care services

Children and young people

Adults and older people

Families and parenting

Safeguarding

Health promotion

Health inequalities

Community development

Physical and mental health

Education and special educational needs

It also offers a holistic view of wider policy areas that impact on health, such as homelessness and deprivation.

The database brings together research and evidence that is relevant to researchers and practitioners in the UK. A large proportion of material relates to delivery and policy within the UK and the devolved nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but the database also covers material that is transferable from Europe and across the world.

Social Policy and Practice boasts over 400,000 references to papers, books and reports and about 30% of the total content is hard-to-find grey literature.

The importance of geographical focus

Research studies have shown that people searching for social science evidence tend to neglect the question of geographical and coverage bias within research sources. And that the geographical focus of databases is a potential source of bias on the findings of a research review.

In the last ten years many UK-produced databases have ceased – funding has stopped, publishers have closed or databases have been taken over by international publishers (which reduces the balance of UK content).

So as a UK-produced database, Social Policy and Practice is uniquely placed to provide relevant results for UK-based researchers.

To see for yourself why so many UK universities and NHS bodies rely on Social Policy and Practice as a resource, visit Ovid Resource of the Month for instant access.

To find out more about the history of the database and the consortium of publishers behind it, read this article from 2016 which we have been given permission to share.

We’re proud to be part of the publishing consortium which creates Social Policy and Practice, the only UK-produced social science database focused on social care, social services, public health, social policy and public policy.

So we’re thrilled that during October anyone can get free access to the database via Ovid and Wolters Kluwers’ Health, the internationally-recognised leader in medical information services.

There’s still a few days left of the special offer, so why not test drive it for free!

Addressing priorities in public health

Over the last few years there have been major changes in the public health landscape in the UK. Responsibility for commissioning many public health services moved from the NHS to local authorities, as a result of government reforms.

The King’s Fund has suggested that one challenge of this shift has been bridging the cultures of the NHS and local authorities. In particular there were clear differences in the understanding, value and use of evidence to determine decision-making and policy.

The continuing pressure on local authority budgets has also threatened the focus on prevention and joined up service delivery which is essential for tackling many public health issues.

Recent feedback on Social Policy and Practice has highlighted its strong coverage of many current priority issues in public health, such as:

dementia care

delayed discharge

funding of long term care

safeguarding of both children and adults

supporting resilience and well-being

tackling obesity

asset-based approaches

As a UK-produced database you will also find information on topical policy issues such as minimum alcohol pricing, sugar taxes, and the possible impact on the health and social care workforce of Brexit.

A valued resource

Social Policy and Practice has been identified by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a key resource for those involved in research into health and social care. And importantly, it supports the ability to take a holistic approach to improving outcomes, by covering social issues such as poor housing, regeneration, active ageing, resilience and capacity building.

Social Policy and Practice boasts over 400,000 references to papers, books and reports and about 30% of the total content is grey literature, which is hard to find elsewhere.

The focus is on research and evidence that is relevant to those in the UK. A large proportion of material relates to delivery and policy within the UK and the devolved nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but the database also contains resources of interest from Europe and across the world.

To see for yourself why so many UK universities, local authorities and NHS bodies rely on Social Policy and Practice as a resource, visit Ovid Resource of the Month for instant access.

To find out more about the history of the database and the consortium of publishers behind it, read this article from 2016 which we have been given permission to share.

Social Policy and Practice is the UK’s only national social science database embracing social care, social services, public health, social policy and public policy. And Ovid – the internationally-recognised leader in medical information services –is celebrating its unique benefits by offering the chance for librarians and researchers to test drive it for free, throughout October!

UK-focused evidence and research

Social Policy and Practice is produced by a consortium of key organisations within the UK. Currently these are:

Centre for Policy on Ageing

Idox Information Service

National Children’s Bureau

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

Social Care Institute for Excellence

The focus is on research and evidence that is relevant to those in the UK. So although a large proportion of material relates to delivery and policy within the UK and the devolved nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the database also covers material that is transferable from Europe and across the world.

Unrivalled scope

Social Policy and Practice covers all aspects of public health and social care. It is a must-have resource for anyone interested in the following topic areas:

Social work and social care services

Children and young people

Adults and older people

Families and parenting

Safeguarding

Health promotion

Health inequalities

Community development

Physical and mental health

Education and special educational needs

It also offers a holistic view of wider policy areas that impact on health, such as homelessness, housing and deprivation.

Social Policy and Practice boasts over 400,000 references to papers, books and reports and about 30% of the total content is grey literature.

The importance of geographical focus

Research studies have shown that people searching for social science evidence tend to neglect the question of geographical and coverage bias within research sources. And that the geographical focus of databases is a potential source of bias on the findings of a research review.

In the last ten years many UK-produced databases have ceased – funding has stopped, publishers have closed or databases have been taken over by international publishers (which reduces the balance of UK content).

So as a UK-produced database, Social Policy and Practice is uniquely placed to provide relevant results for UK-based researchers.

A valued resource

Social Policy and Practice has been identified by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a key resource for those involved in research into health and social care. And importantly, it supports the ability to take a holistic approach to improving outcomes, by covering social issues such as poor housing, regeneration, active ageing, resilience and capacity building.